Operating mechanism for car-doors.



I. F. McELROY. OPERATING MECHANISM FOR CAR DOORS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. II, I913.

Patented July 13, 1915.

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WITNESSES:

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COLUMBIA PMNDGRAPH C0,, WASHINGTON, D. c.

J. F. McELROY.

OPERATING MECHANISM FOR CAB DOORS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. IM 1913.

22%? XWW Patented July 13, 1915.

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INVENTOR Patented July 13, 1915.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3- n B a A .llxlvil. A INAM M WIVIIVIIII IIIJ V J. F. McELROY. OPERATING MECHANISM FOR CAR DOORS. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 1h 1913. 1 45 1 WITNESSES: INVENTOR ,ziJJh MJ W i U?%%,%fi M B J. F. McELROY. OPERATING MECHANISM FOR CAR DOORS.

Patented July 1 3, 1915.

4 $HEETSSHEET 4 APPLICATION FILED MAR. H, I913- INVENTOR f WU ITNESSES: i fw til JAMES F. MQELROY, 0F ALBANY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO CONSOLIDATED OAR- HEATING- COMPANY, A CORBORATION OF WEST VIRGINIA.

OPERATING MECHANISM FOR CAR-DOORS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 13, 1915.

Application filed March 11, 1913. Serial No. 753,637.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, James F. MCELROY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Albany, county of Albany, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Operating Mechanism for Car-Doors, the following being a full, clear, and exact disclosure of the one form of my invention which I at present deem preferable.

For a detailed description of the present form of my invention, reference may be had to the following specification and to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate my invention, wherein- Figure 1 is a general view of my apparatus;.Fig. 2 is a plan thereof; Fig. 3 shows the handle shaft; Figs. 4, 5 and 6 show details.

My invention relates to mechanism for doors, particularly car doors, and is fundamentally similar to thatshown in my former application Ser. No. 733,626, filed November 26, 1912.

Referring to the drawings, A, A represent the two parts of a folding door hinged to each other, with the part-A hinged to the door jamb at the right. This door is shown in its closed'position. B, B represent the two parts of a similar folding door hinged to the door jamb at the left and shown in its open position. Since the operating mechanism for one of these doors'is practically a duplicate of that for the other, I have marked the several elements of one operating mechanism by the numbered letters A and a, thecorresponding elements of the other mechanism by the. numbered letters B and b, the description being, however, confined to one of the duplicate mechanisms with the understanding that it applies also to the other one.

At the upper and outer corner of the door section A is a roller a, shown best in Fig. 5 but appearing also in Figs. 2 and 4:, which travels horizontally between parallel guides a a secured to the under side of the top cross bar of the door frame. That edge of the dOOr therefore travels in a straight line from one side of the door frame to the other while the two parts of the door will fold together outwardly as illustrated by the doors B, B at the left of Figs. 1 and 2 to open, and will unfold and lieflat, as illustrated by the doors A, A at the right of Figs. 1 and 2 to close.

My operating mechanism for the door hegins with a lever arm A extending horizontally along the upper edge of the door and above it, the arm having a vertical shaft A passing through the horizontal beam 1) and a bearing plate D on the upper side of the beam. This shaft A is located near the meeting edges of the two door sections and is therefore at an intermediate point in the total width of the door. The arm A at its outer end enters a horizontal groove in the socket piece A which swivels on a vertical pin forming part of a casting A as is particularly shown in Fig. 5. Thus as the arm A and its shaft turn outward the end of the arm can slide in the said groove and the socket piece can rotate with respect tothe door, the parts coming finally into the position illustrated by the open doors B, B The shaft A of the arm A is provided with suitable operating gear worked by the operators handle at some distant point, so that the operator can swing the arm and thereby work the doors. For this purpose the vertical shaft A is provided, at its upper end above the beam D, with a gear-wheel A A reciprocating rack-bar a is in mesh with said gear-wheel A and operates it by its reciprocating movement. A fixed guide A of T form is secured to the plate D above gear-wheel A through which guide the rack-bar a reciprocates. The rack-bar is jointed at a to the inner end ofrod A which is operated by a crank A through an offset A The crank A is secured to avertical shaft A (shown in detail in Fig. 3) within a tubular shaft B which serves the same purpose for the doors B, B The shaft A has secured to it a handle A which also forms the lower bearing for the shaft by resting on the tubular standard E rising up from the rail E which surrounds the conductors station on the platform of .a streetcar. An upper bearing F for shaft A is held in place by the brace rods F F The'tubular shaft B has a similar operating handle B In Fig. 6 is shown the details of the con necting rod A The screw a which enters a socket a pivoted to the crank arm a serves to adjust the length of the rod. Its other end enters a tubular section a where it has a shoulder abutting against the washer 04 that bears on one end of spring a*, while an extension (4 passes through the spring and carries a nut on the outside of a corresponding washer a on the opposite end of spring a and the washer a bears against an internal, shoulder on the section (2?. Thus the connecting rod has a double acting spring resiliency yielding to either compres sion or tension on the rod. The left hand end of tubular section a screws on a section a which is rectangular in cross section and containstwo adjusting nuts of", a on the screw a? while a plate a screwed to the inside of section a locks the nuts against turning but allows them to slide longitudinally. These nuts serve to adjust the eX- tent of compression or extension of the connecting rod. The rod a is riveted to section a to complete the connecting rod A and passes through and is pinned fast to the offset A which is pivoted to, crank arm A.

The relation of the operating parts is such'that the door-working arm A can be easily and certainly given a swing of about 160 degrees without binding or sticking, because of the location of the axis of the said arm and the positive transmission thereto of the handle movement due to the absence of any approach to dead center in the operating joints after the mechanism is unlocked and'put into operation. The operating handle, by virtue of the offset A and the spring connecting rod will have a movement slightly greater than 180 degrees,

the last part of the handle-movement, after the door has been opened or closed-serving to compress the spring, which then reacts to throw the handle-shaft crank arm A slightly over dead center and so look the mechanism and the doors in the position to which they have been brought. Thus in Fig. 2 the door A, A for example, cannot be opened by pushing on it, since such a push would be converted into a longitudinal thrust on connecting rod A which will compress the spring therein, to the slight extent permitted by the stop nut a but will not move the connecting rod itself because the oifset A under a longitudinal thrust or pull on the connecting rod, will merely act radially on the crank arm A. The same is true of the opened door B, B and it is only after the handle has been moved sufliciently to bring the axis of the pivot between A and A out of line with theaxis of the vertical handle shaft A that the mechanism will be unlocked and free to operate. This preliminary unlocking movement, as well as the final locking movement is provided for by the spring in the connecting rod, although any other expedient for getting the required resiliency in the parts will serve the same purpose.

It will be observed that the point of application of the operating force to the door is at or near the center of the outer section A, with the result that, when the door is open and is to be closed, the operating force will act primarily on the outer one of the two sections tending to draw it away from the inner section and in a direction which, in a general way, is parallel to the guideway along which the outer end of that section travels. Hence there is no tendency of the outer section to bind and lock the inner one as might be the case if the operating force were applied to the inner one.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. The combination with a swinging door having two sections hinged together, of a guide for the outer section, a guide pivotally mounted on said outer section, a rotary operating device for the door having one end mounted to slide in said pivoted guide, a gear wheel on the shaft of said device, a reciprocating rack engaging the gear wheel, a guide for said rack, and an operating handle for reciprocating the rack.

2. The combination with a swinging door having two sections, of a guide for the outer section, a rotary operating device for the door applied to the outer section, a rack and gear for moving said operating device, a connecting rod jointed to said rack and a crank for operating said rod.

3. The combination with a swinging door formed of hinged sections, of a guide pivoted to the outer section, a rotary operating device for the door having one end mounted to slide in said guide, a gear wheel on the shaft of said device, a reciprocating rack meshing with said gear wheel and extend ing across the line occupied by the door in its closed position, and operating means for said rack.

4. The combination with a swinging door having two sections hinged together, of a rotary operating device for the door applied to the outer section thereof, a gear and reciprocating rack for said operating device, a connecting rod jointed to said rack, a crank arm connected eccentrically to said rod and a vertical shaft for operating said crank arm.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand, before two subscribing witnesses. this first day of March, 1913.

JAMES F. MoELROY.

Witnesses:

HERBERT A. CAULKINs, CLARENCE PALMER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C. 

